Pretty Little Liars Read the First Book
by my-middle-name-is-awkward
Summary: Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer plus more, read the first Pretty Little Liars Book! Pairings: Aria/Ezra Toby/Spencer Paige/Emily Hanna/Caleb. I changed the couples! Sorry if there's confusion! I don't own anything! Rated for language F word in one part!
1. Chapter 1

Pretty Little Liars Read the Book!

_**(Hey, this is a new story about how the Pretty Little Liars read the series of books based on them! I don't own this book or characters at all! CONTAINS SPOILERS!**_

Aria Montgomery was quietly roaming the book store for a good read. She had been there for about an hour, and she still didn't have one book! Books weren't the only reason why she was at the book store. What else could she be doing at a book store, you may ask. Well, she was also looking for cute boys that loved reading like her.

She was getting aggravated; she had not found a book or a boy that was not a nerd. She was about to leave when she bumped into someone she never expected to see ever again.

"Aria?" The guys said, scratching his neck nervously

"Ezra?" Aria was stunned

"Hey" Ezra gave her that smile that made her want to faint in high school, and now.

"Hey. I never expected to see you here" Aria said

"I know, I thought you moved away from Rosewood" Ezra said

"I did for a while, but now I'm back" Aria said

"Oh" Ezra said, then they was an awkward silence

"It's been awhile" Aria said

"Yeah it has" Ezra agreed "I've missed you a lot Aria" Ezra said truthfully

"Really?" Aria's face lit up. Ezra nodded and Aria grinned "I've missed you too!" Aria was suddenly shoved into Ezra. She almost fell, but Ezra caught her just in time.

"Thanks" Aria said then looked at who had shoved her. It was teenage girl. She was running to where there was a huge mob of people

"What's going on?" Ezra asked Aria

"I have no idea" Aria admitted "Let's go check it out" Aria and Ezra walked over to the crowd. "Um, excuse me?" Aria asked a stranger

"Yes?" The woman asked

"Why is everyone gathered over here?"

"Oh, there's a new book to a mystery series coming out!"

"What series?" Aria asked politely

"It's called 'Pretty Little Liars'" the woman said then turned away

Aria's eyes widened. "Um, thanks" Aria then felt Ezra looking at her "I have to get that book!"

"Why? Have you read the others of the series or something?"

"No, I just need to see what it!" Aria said then fought her way through the group of people. She eventually got the first book. She found her way out of the mob then saw Ezra.

"Now tell me why you had to get this book?" Ezra asked, confused

"Do you remember 'A'?" Aria asked, hating what A did to them

"Yes" Ezra replied also thinking about what had happened

"She called us-me, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily-Pretty Little Liars once, I think. Here, come over here" Aria pulled Ezra over to a corner in the book store

"Why are we in a corner?" Ezra asked

"Because I don't want anyone to hear us!" Aria whispered "I'll read you the back cover"

_Everyone has something to hide- especially high school juniors_ _Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on a new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept a _bigger _secret since their friend Alison vanished._

_How do I know? Because I know _everything _about the bad girls they were, and the naughty girls they are, and all of the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what, I'm telling. –__**A**_

"I'm offended!" Aria whispered angrily

"Why?" Ezra asked

"I did not fantasize about you! I did more than fantasize" Aria smirked

Ezra chuckled "I guess you're right"

"I have to go buy this and show this to the girls!" Aria ran to the cash register and found there was a huge line. Ezra followed her.

"I guess we'll have to wait" Ezra said

* * *

Spencer Hastings and Emily Fields were sitting in Spencer's apartment just chatting. Emily lived next door and decided to drop by.

"So have you had any secret boyfriends lately?" Emily asked Spencer with a grin

"No" Spencer said with a frown

"Why not, you need to get back out there!"

"So do you!" Spencer shot back

"I know, but I haven't moved on from Paige. She finally came out, and her dad moved her to Washington" Emily admitted "Spence, you haven't dated a guy since Toby. It's time to move on!"

"Have you dated anyone lately?" Spencer retorted "Because I remember just yesterday, you were tearing up because you missed Paige!"

"I know, but… I don't know. I can move on, but I don't want to! I have a feeling she's gonna come back!"

"Emily she's in Seattle, I don't think her dad's gonna let her come back anytime soon" Spencer said, giving her friend a sad look

"I still feel like she's gonna be back." Emily looked down "Don't change the topic though, why haven't you moved on from Toby?"

"I don't want to move on from him, I think, I think I loved him, and I still do" Spencer confessed and started to wipe her unshed tears

Emily opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't because someone knocked on Spencer's door.

"Can you get that?" Spencer asked "I'm not in the mood to see anyone right now" Spencer then wiped her eyes once again.

"Sure, just stay here, I'll tell them that you're not here"

"Thanks, Em" Emily got up and walked to the door. She opened it slowly. "Sorry, Spencer's not-" Emily cut herself off when she saw a guy with piercing blue eyes standing in front of her.

"Toby?" Emily asked

* * *

Hanna Marin looked in the mirror, remembering when she would observe her reflection in the mirror for hours when she was in high school, thinking she was fat.

Now, she knew that she wasn't fat, she was thin. Not because she threw up after she ate something unhealthy, because she exercised and ate right. She also knew that a boy didn't like you only for your looks (unless he was a jerk); he also liked you for your personality, humor, kindness, and much, much more.

She actually had a boyfriend now. No, it wasn't Sean Akard. It was Caleb Rivers. Yes, the liar. But after Hanna had gotten over the whole Jenna situation, she decided that they could at least be friends. Being just friends turned into a crush. Crushing turned to liking. Liking turned into confessions. Confessions turned into dating. And dating turned into love. Sure it was a long cycle, but to Hanna and Caleb it was all worth it.

Hanna was getting ready to go on a date with Caleb. It was their 1 year anniversary. She was wearing a cute yellow dress with a black belt around the waist. The dress went down mid thigh. She also wore black leggings and yellow shoes. She carried a black bag. Her hair was straightened, and she looked amazing.

She was just finishing her make-up when she heard a knock at the door. She smiled then went to the front door of the small house she and Aria lived in. She opened the door quickly and saw the love of her life standing directly in front of her.

Hanna enveloped him in a hug "Hey" she said softly

"Hey" Caleb smiled as he pulled away from the hug. He kissed her on the cheek then looked her over. "You look beautiful"

"Thanks" Hanna blushed

"Shall we?" Caleb asked, holding out his arm

"We shall!" Hanna giggled and took his arm

* * *

Hey hope you liked it! I don't own anything! Review and tell me if I should continue! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Pretty Little Liars Read the Book!

_**(Hey, this is a new story about how the Pretty Little Liars read the series of books based on them! I don't own this book or characters at all! CONTAINS SPOILERS!)**_

Aria and Ezra finally paid for the book then walked outside.

"I have to show this to Hanna, Emily, and Spencer!" Aria exclaimed "Do you have your car?" Aria asked as she turned to Ezra

"No, I walked from my apartment. Why?" Aria didn't respond she just walked over to her car.

"Get in, we're going to my house to show this to my friends" Aria said and Ezra got into the car and soon they were off.

* * *

Spencer sat on her couch trying so hard not to start sobbing. Emily was out of her sight, answering her door.

Emily stared at Spencer's ex-boyfriend standing before her,

"Toby?" Emily looked behind her to see if Spencer had gotten up and came to see who it was, but she didn't

"Hey, Emily! Is Spencer here?"

"Yeah, one sec, I'll go and get her." Emily welcomed him in and told him to stay there

Emily ran over to Spencer with a huge smile on her face.

"You'll never guess who's here!" Emily exclaimed

"Who?" Spencer sniffed

"Just come and see!" Emily grabbed onto Spencer's arm and tried to drag her toward where Toby was

"I'm not in the mood to see anyone! I told you that!" Spencer whined

Emily gave up and Spencer then sat back down on the couch. Emily went to get Toby and within seconds Spencer was face-to-face with him.

"Toby?" Spencer shouted then jumped into his arms "Oh my god! Toby!"

"Spencer, I've missed you so much!" Toby embraced Spencer

"I've missed you too!" Spencer grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you so much, last night I decided to try and find you today" Toby explained

Spencer said nothing, instead she kissed him. Spencer pulled away after she realized what she was doing.

"Sorry" she lied

"I don't think you are" Toby smirked

"What?" Spencer asked confused

"I don't think you're sorry you kissed me. I can tell you were just saying that" Toby said

Spencer opened her mouth to reply, but she never got the chance, because Toby's lips soon covered hers

"Well, I'll be leaving now" Emily said "Bye, Spence, Toby" Emily knew that Spencer and Toby probably weren't listening

Spencer waved at her saying she heard her but she continued to do what she was doing

* * *

Emily smiled, she was happy for her friend; she walked out the door and into her apartment.

Hours past and Emily was lonely. She lay on her couch waiting for something to do. She knew it would come to her.

'If the doorbell rings in the next 10 seconds, I'll have something to do' Emily thought. She counted to 9 when suddenly the doorbell rang. Emily smiled and then skipped to the door. She swung it open. Her eyes widened, and then she smiled

"Paige!" Emily grinned and embraced her old teammate

* * *

Hanna and Caleb sat at a restaurant, they had already eaten, and now they were just having a cute conversation.

"No, I didn't say that!" Hanna giggled

"I think you did" Caleb teased

Hanna was about to say something but she was cut off by her phone ringing. She grabbed it out of her purse and saw Aria was calling.

"Sorry, it's Aria. I should probably take this" Hanna said then Lucas nodded

"Fine. That means I win the argument!" Caleb smirked

"We'll see about that!" Hanna grinned then walked to the lady's room.

"Hello?" she asked into the phone

"Hanna! It's Aria!" Aria exclaimed

"Yeah, I know, I have caller I.D." Hanna joked

"Funny" Aria said sarcastically "Look, I know you're on your date with Caleb, but can you cut it short? Come back home, you can bring Caleb, this is super important!"

"Fine, we'll be there in ten!" Hanna said then hung up

* * *

Aria hung up the phone then dialed Emily's number

"Em! You need to get to my house!" Aria said "I'll explain when you get here!"

"Ok?" Emily said confused

"Oh, and bring Spencer. If anyone's with you, bring them as well! Someone's with me now and Hanna's bringing Caleb. Same goes for Spencer, she can bring whoever."

"OK, be there in about 20 minutes" Emily said

* * *

**Sorry it was short. Wanted to get another one up :D**


	3. Chapter 3

Pretty Little Liars Read the Book!

_**(Hey, this is a new story about how the Pretty Little Liars read the series of books based on them! I don't own this book or characters at all! CONTAINS SPOILERS!)**_

Aria and Ezra were now walking up the stairs to the front door of Hanna's and Aria's house. Aria unlocked it and the two walked in.

"Nice house"

"Thanks" Aria replied

They walked into the kitchen and Aria placed her purse on the counter. She sighed

"Why would someone want to write a book about us?"

"Well, let's see, first your friend dies, then you all have your little secrets, then there is A. Plus much more." Ezra explains

"Those are some good points" Aria sighed once more "Why'd it have to happen to us though?"

"Who knows?" Ezra said and then there was a knock on the door.

"Coming" Aria shouted and walked over to the door. She pulled it open and saw Spencer and Toby standing there "Hey, Spence, Toby, nice to see you again"

"You too" Toby responded

"Aria, why are we here?"

"I'll tell you when the others get here"

The two walked in and then Aria was about to shut the door when she saw Hanna and Caleb walk up.

"Hey" Hanna said

"Hey, sorry to ruin your date" Aria said

"It's fine" Caleb smiled

"Yep, so why are we here?"

"One sec, Emily needs to be here first"

"Okay" Hanna and Caleb walked in and Aria closed the door

"Mr. Fitz?"

"Hi, and please call me Ezra, I'm no longer your teacher"

"I saw him at the bookstore"

"Why?" Hanna asked simply

"Why what?"

"Why were you at a bookstore?"

Aria rolled her eyes at her roommate and didn't respond.

"I'm gonna go change real quick" Hanna said and walked upstairs to her room.

Then, there was another knock on the door. Aria ran to get it and smiled at Emily when she opened the door

"Hey, Em, and Paige, haven't seen you in a while"

"Hey" They replied in unison

They all walked back to the others and said there hellos and Hanna had returned.

"So, why are we here?" Spencer asked

"Well, when Ezra and I were at the bookstore, we saw these people gathering a small table. We asked someone what the books were, since we couldn't get close enough, and she said that there was a new addition to a series"

"And?" Hanna asked

"The book series was called 'Pretty Little Liars'" Emily, Hanna, and Spencer froze. The other three didn't know what was going on.

"Wait-like?" Emily trailed off

Aria nodded "Let me read the back"

_Everyone has something to hide – especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna._

Aria paused as her three friends looked at her.

"I don't believe you!" Hanna exclaimed

"Me neither" Spencer grabbed the book out of Aria's hands and her eyes scanned the back "Oh my god" She whispered

"Is there more?" Emily asked

"Yeah I'll read it" Spencer said

_Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful._

Hanna, who was sitting on a stool, placed her head in her hands as everyone looked at her.

_But they've all kept an even _bigger_ secret since their friend Alison vanished._

_How do I know? Because I know _everything_ about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are and all of the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what. I'm telling_

_-A_

Spencer's voice shook as she read the last letter. Hanna lifted her head and looked at her friends.

"Do you really think-" Emily said softly

"No way. No way in hell!" Hanna shook her head and stood up

"Let's face it, the back of the book has already spilled our secrets" Aria said "Plus A"

"Wait, who's A?" Caleb asked

"A bitch that stalked us in high school"

"Knew all of our secrets and knew how to scare us" Emily said "Sent texts, emails, letters, anything you could think of"

"Is that why you guys always jumped when your phone went off?" Toby asked

The four of them nodded. "Did you ever tell anyone?" Paige asked

"No, if we did, our secrets would've come out" Spencer said

"Spencer, that one day at the hotel. We found the bag of ice and it said 'You're getting colder. –A'" Toby said

"I lied, I did know who 'A' was" Spencer crossed her arms over her chest

Silence filled the room "Maybe we should read the book" Emily said quietly

"Hell no! Then out goes our secrets" Hanna exclaimed "I'm sorry, but I know what I did was bad, and I'd rather not relive it!"

"We don't even know if it's gonna be accurate!" Aria pointed out

"Fine" Hanna said after everyone stared her down "But no judging! For anyone!" She said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"How about we take turns reading aloud. Everyone reads one chapter?" Spencer suggested. Everyone nodded again

"Let's go over to the living room, more comfortable" Hanna said

They all walked over to the living room and sat down. Spencer and Toby took the love seat. Hanna and Caleb took the recliner; Hanna sat on Caleb's lap. Ezra, Aria, and Emily sat on the full couch and Paige took the arm chair next to the edge of the couch, where Emily sat.

"Who wants to start?" Aria questioned

"I will" Spencer said, and opened the book

_How it all started_

_Imagine it's a couple of years ago, the summer between seventh and eighth grade. You're tan from lying out next to your rock-lined pool, you've got on your new Juicy sweats (remember when everybody wore those?), and your mind's on your crush, the boy who goes to that other prep school whose name we won't mention and who folds jeans at Abercrombie in the mall. You're eating your Cocoa Krispies just how you like 'em- doused in skim milk- and you see this girl's face on the side of the milk carton. __**MISSING.**__ She's cute-probably cuter than you- and has a feisty look in her eyes. _

"Yep, that's Ali for you" Hanna interjected. Spencer shot her a look and Hanna put her hands up in defense

_You think, _Hmm, maybe she likes soggy Cocoa Krispies too. _And you bet she'd think Abercrombie boy was a hottie as well. You wonder how someone so…well, so much like you missing. You thought only girls who entered beauty pageants ended up o the side of the milk cartons._

_Well think again._

**(Hope you liked it!**_** That was part of the prolouge, I was planning on doing all of it, but the other part of it was like 20 pages! I'll post soon!)**_


	4. How It All Started

Pretty Little Liars Read the Book!

_**(Hey, this is a new story about how the Pretty Little Liars read the series of books based on them! I don't own this book or characters at all! CONTAINS SPOILERS!)**_

They all exchanged glances and Spencer continued to read.

**Aria Montgomery burrowed her face in her best friend Alison DiLaurentis's lawn. "Delicious," she murmured. **

"Oh, my god!" Aria said, embarrassed. "This thing better not be full of flashbacks"

Everyone laughed and Aria huffed and laid her head on Ezra's shoulder.

**"Are you smelling the grass?" Emily Fields called from behind her, pushing the door to her mom's Volvo wagon closed with her long freckly arm.**

"Better not describe us that much" Hanna said. Her three friends smiled sympathetically at her and Spencer continued

**"_It smells good." Aria brushed away her pink-striped hair and breathed in the warm early-evening air. "Like summer"_**

"Pink-striped?" Ezra chuckled

"Aria was pretty…original" Spencer laughed and the others joined in "She still is"

"And proud of it" Aria smirked

**Emily waved 'bye to her mom and pulled up the blah jeans that were hanging on her skinny hips. Emily had been a competitive swimmer since Tadpole League, and even though she looked great in a Speedo, she never wore anything tight or remotely cute like the rest of the girls in her seventh grade class.**

Emily scoffed "I had some cute outfits, right?"

"Yeah…" Hanna trailed off and looked at the ceiling

"You're style wasn't the most adorable, but I wouldn't say it was ugly" Spencer commented

"It was sporty"

**That was because Emily's parents insisted that one built it's character from the inside out. (Although Emily was pretty certain that being forced to hide her Irish Girls Do It Better baby tee at the back of her underwear drawer wasn't exactly character enhancing)**

Paige snorted "I'd say" Emily pouted at her

**"_You guys!" Alison pirouetted through the front yard. Her hair was bunched up in a messy ponytail, and she was still wearing her rolled-up field hockey kilt from the team's end of the year party that after noon. Alison was the only seventh grader to make the JV team and get rides home with the older Rosewood Day School Girls, who blasted Jay-Z from their Cherokees and sprayed Alison with perfume before dropping her off so she wouldn't smell like the cigarettes they'd all been smoking. _**

"She seems…" Caleb started

"Like a bitch, we know" Hanna sneered

"Come on, Han" Emily said "We had some good times"

"Yeah, I guess. If you call Ali trying to get us wasted good times"

"She did more than that"

"What try to hypnotize us?" Hanna questioned

"I was the only one against it!" Spencer exclaimed and Toby placed a calming hand on her shoulder

"I agreed to it because I was tired of the fat comments" Hanna crossed her arms over her chest and Caleb wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

Everyone's facial expressions softened and Spencer took that as a cue to start reading.

**"What am I missing?" called Spencer Hastings, sliding through a gap in Ali's hedge to join the others Spencer lived next door. She flipped her long sleek dark-blonde ponytail over her shoulder and took a swig from her purple Nalgene bottle. Spencer hadn't made the JV cut with Ali in the fall and had to play on the seventh grade team . She'd been on a year-long field hockey binge to perfect her game, and the girls knew she'd been practicing dribbling before they arrived**

Everyone chuckled at this, except for Spencer.

"I don't like being second best"

"We know"

**Spencer hated when anyone was better at anything than she was. Especially Alison.**

**"Wait for me!"**

"Here comes Hefty Hanna" Hanna mumbled. Caleb kissed her forehead in comfort since he was the only one that had heard

**They turned to see Hanna Marin climbing out of her mom's Mercedes. She stumbled over her tote bag and waved her chubby arms wildly, Ever since Hanna's parents had gotten a divorce last year, she'd been steadily putting on weight and outgrowing her old clothes. Even though Ali rolled her eyes, the rest of the girls pretended not to notice. That's just what best friends do.**

"Thanks" Hanna smiles and the three smile back

**Alison, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna bonded last year when their parents volunteered them to work Saturday afternoons at Rosewood Day School's charity drive-well. All except for Spencer, who volunteered herself.**

"Typical Spencer" Toby smirked

"Yeah, back then, she told us her parents signed her up too, but we eventually figured out she signed herself up" Emily laughed

**Whether or not Alison knew about the other four, the four knew about Alison. She was perfect. Beautiful, witty, smart. Popular. Boys wanted to kiss Alison, and girls-even older ones- wanted to be her. So the first time Ali laughed at one of Aria's jokes, asked Emily a question about swimming, told Hanna her shirt was adorable, or commented that Spencer's penmanship was way neater than her own, they couldn't help but be, well…dazzled. Before Ali, the girls had felt like pleated, high-wasted mom jeans-awkward and noticeable for all the wrong reason-but then Ali made them feel like the most perfect fitting Stella McCartneys that no one could afford.**

**Now, more than a year later, on the last day of seventh grade, they weren't just best friends, they were the girls of Rosewood Day. A lot had happened to make it that way. Every sleepover they had, every field trip, had been a new adventure. Even homeroom had been memorable when they were together. (Reading a steamy note from the varsity crew captain to his math tutor over the PA system was now a Rosewood Day legend)**

"You guys really did that?" Caleb asked

"Yeah, I must say that was pretty funny" Aria laughed

"It was" The other three said in unison

**But there were other things they all wanted t forget. And there was one secret they couldn't even bear to talk about.**

"The Jenna Thing?" Ezra whispered into Aria's ear and she nodded

**Ali said that secrets were what bonded their five-way best friendship together for eternity. If that was true, they were gonna be friends for life.**

**"I'm so glad this day is over." Alison moaned before gently pushing Spencer back through the gap in the hedges. "Your barn."**

**"I'm so glad seventh grade is over," Aria said as she, Emily, and Hanna followed Alison and Spencer toward the renovated barn-turned-guesthouse where Spencer's older sister, Melissa, had lived for her junior and years of high school. Fortunately, she'd just graduated and was headed to Prague this summer, so it was all theirs for the night.**

"Wish it hadn't been" Spencer said "None of it would've turned out like this"

"Everything happens for a reason, Spence" Emily said softly

"I know, but if she would've lived, even if she had dumped us not short after, we would still have each other." Spencer said

"Spencer's right. If we didn't have Ali, we wouldn't have the lives we have now" Aria said

**Suddenly they heard a very squeaky voice. "Alison! Hey, Alison! Hey, Spencer!"**

**Alison turned to the street. "Not it," she whispered**

**"Not it," Spencer, Emily, and Aria quickly followed**

**Hanna frowned "Shit"**

"Hanna!" Caleb gasped "Language" he joked. She smiled

"Why are you guys saying not it?" Paige asked

"You'll see"

**It was this game Ali had stolen from her brother, Jason, who was a senior at Rosewood Day. Jason and his friends played it as inter-prep school field parties when scoping out girls. Being the last to call out "not it" meant you had to entertain the ugly girl for the night while your friends got to hook up with her hot friends-meaning essentially, that you were as lame and unattractive as she was. In Ali's version, the girls called "not it" whenever there was anyone ugly, uncool, or unfortunate near them**

"That's horrible" Toby commented

"We know" The girls said in unison

**This time "not it" was for Mona Vanderwaal**

"What?" Ezra and Caleb exclaimed

"Yep, Mona, was the loser"

"So was I" Hanna said "But once Ali went missing, we decided to become the It Girls."

**-A dork from down the street whose favorite pastime was trying to befriend Spencer and Alison- and her two freaky friends, Chassey Bledsoe and Phi Templeton. Chassey was the girl who'd hacked into the school's computer system and then told the principal how to better secure it, and Phi Templeton went everywhere with a yo-yo-enough said. The three stared at the girls from the middle of the quiet suburban rad. Mona was perched on her Razor scooter, Chassey was on a black mountain bike, and Phi was on foot-with her yo-yo, of course.**

**"You guys want to come over and watch Fear Factor?" Mona called **

**"Sorry" Alison simpered "We're kind of busy"**

**Chassey frowned "Don't you want to see when they eat the bugs?"**

**"Gross!" Spencer whispered to Aria, who then pretended to eat invisible lice off Hanna's scalp like a monkey.**

Laughter filled the air once more

**"Yeah, I wish we could." Alison titled her head "We've planned this sleepover for a while now. But maybe next time?"**

**Mona looked at the sidewalk. "Yeah, okay."**

**They crossed through Spencer's back gate. To their left Ali's neighboring backyard, where her parents were building a twenty-seat gazebo for their lavish outdoor picnics. "Thank God the workers aren't here," Ali said, glancing at a yellow bulldozer.**

**'Emily stiffened "Have they been saying stuff to you again?"**

**"Easy there, Killer," Alison said. The others giggled. Sometimes they called Emily "Killer" as in Ali's personal pit bull. Emily used to find it funny, too, but lately she wasn't laughing along.**

"Well, I started to hate it!"

**The barn was just ahead. It was small and cozy and had a big window that looked out on Spencer's rambling farm, which had its very own windmill. Here in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a little suburb about twenty miles from Philadelphia, you were more likely to live in a twenty-five- room farmhouse with a mosaic-tiled pool and hot tub, like Spencer's house, than in a prefab McMansion. Rosewood smelled like lilacs and mown grass**

"I bet Aria liked that" Emily laughed

"Shut up" Aria buried her head into Ezra's shoulder to hide her flaming cheeks

**In the summer and clean snow and wood stoves in the winter. It was full of lush, tall pines, acres of rustic family-run farms, and the cutest foxes and bunnies. It had fabulous shopping and Colonial-era estates and parks for birthday, graduation, and just-'cause-we-feel-like-it fetes. And Rosewood boys were gorgeous in that glowing, healthy, just-stepped-out-of-an-Abercrombie-catalog way. This was Philadelphia's Main Line. It was full of odd, noble bloodlines, older money, and practically ancient scandals. **

**As they reached the barn, the girls heard giggled coming from inside. Someone squealed from inside, "I said, stop it!" **

**"Oh God," Spencer moaned "What is she doing here?"**

**As Spencer peeked through the keyhole, she could see Melissa, her prim and proper, excellent-at everything older sister,**

"Ain't that the truth" Spencer said

**And Ian Tomas, her tasty boyfriend**

Spencer choked on the word 'Tasty'

**Wrestling on the couch. Spencer kicked the door with the heel of her shoe, forcing it open. The barn smelled like moss and slightly burned popcorn. Melissa turned around**

**"What the fu-?" She asked. Then she noticed the others and smiled. "Oh, hey guys" **

**The girls eyes Spencer. She constantly complained that Melissa was a venomous super-bitch, so they were always taken aback when Melissa seemed friendly and sweet.**

"Now you know, right?" Spencer asked and the three nodded

**Ian stood up, stretched, and grinned at Spencer. "Hey."**

**"Hi, Ian," Spencer replied in a much brighter voice. "I didn't know you were here"**

**"Yeah you did." Ian smiled flirtatiously. "You were spying on us"**

"God, he even knew everything back then" Hanna said "Does he just sense these things?"

**Melissa readjusted her long blonde hair and black silk headband, staring at her sister.**

"That's weird, Melissa has brown hair," Spencer said

"The book is probably just different"

**"So, what's up?" She asked, a little accusingly.**

**"It's just…I didn't mean to barge in…," Spencer sputtered. "But we were supposed to have this place tonight."**

**Ian playfully hit Spencer on the arm. "I was just messing with you," he teased**

**A patch of red crept up her neck. Ian had messy blond hair, sleeping-looking hazelnut-colored eyes, and totally gropeworthy stomach muscles.**

"Um…" Aria said looking at Spencer

"Hey! You thought he was cute too!" Spencer snapped

"Aria thought a lot of guys were cute" Hanna commented. "but every girl had a crush on Ian, or at least thought he was cute"

"Hanna!" Aria exclaimed

"Sorry, but it's true"

**"Wow," Ali said in a too-loud voice. All head turned to her. "Melissa, you and Ian make the kuh-yoo-test couple. I've never told you, but I've always thought it. Don't you agree, Spence?"**

**Spencer blinked. "Um," she said quietly**

"I'm guessing she did that on purpose" Toby said

"You guessed right" Spencer said "She said stuff like that all the time. It all had to do with our secrets"

"Then why'd you hang out with her?" asked Paige. She had gone to school with them, and only ever saw them have fun.

"We felt like we belonged. We were all nobodies until she came along"

**Melissa stared at Ali for a second, perplexed, and the turned back to Ian. "Can I talk to you outside?"**

**Ian downed his Corona as the girls watched. They only ever drank super-secretively from the bottle in their parents' liquor cabinets. He sat the empty bottle down and offered them a parting grin as he followed Melissa outside. "Adieu, ladies." He winked before closing the door behind him.**

**Alison dusted her hands together. "Another problem solved by Ali D. Are you going to thank me, Spence?" **

**Spencer didn't answer. She was too busy looking out the barn's front window. Lightening bugs had begun to light up the purplish sky.**

**Hanna walked over to the abandoned popcorn bowl and took a big handful.**

Hanna buried her face in Caleb's shoulder and he rubbed her back. Everyone one looked at her sympathetically.

**"Ian's so hot. He's, like, hotter than Sean."**

"Oh God!" Hanna groaned. "I totally forgot how obsessed I was!"

**Sean Ackard was one of the cutest guys in their grade and the subject of Hanna's constant fantasies. **

**"You know what I heard?" Ali asked, flopping down on the couch. "Sean really likes girls who have good appetites"**

**Hanna brightened. "Really?" **

**"No." Ali snorted.**

**Hanna dropped the handful of popcorn back into the bowl.**

"Did you guys ever have any secrets on her?" Ezra asked

"Nope. She insisted that secrets kept us close, but we never knew one of her big secrets." Aria replied

"Why didn't you ever stand up for yourself, Hanna?" Caleb asked

"None of us did. Except for Spencer, occasionally. We were all afraid we'd go back to where we were if we did"

**"So, girls," Ali said. "I know the perfect thing we can do."**

**"I hope we're not streaking again." Emily giggled**

"Streaking, really?" Paige asked

The other girls blushed and Spencer began to read once more

**They'd done that a month ago-in the freezing frikin' cold-and although Hanna had refused to strip down to less than her undershirt and day-of-the-week panties,**

"Oh, that's sexy" Caleb whispered into Hanna's ear and she smiled

**The rest of them had run through a nearby barren cornfield without a lick on.**

"Wow" Ezra chuckled and Aria blushed a deep red

"Alright, moving on!" Aria said

Spencer laughed but still continued to read

**"You loved that a little too much," Ali murmured. The smile faded from Emily's lips. "But no- I was leaving this for the last day of school. I learned how to hypnotize people."**

"Why would she need that? She knew all of your secrets" Toby commented

"To have complete control, I guess"

**"Hypnotize?" Spencer repeated**

**"Matt's sister taught me," Ali answered, looking at the framed photo of Melissa and Ian on the mantel. Her boyfriend of the week, Matt, had the same sandy-colored hair as Ian**

"That makes sense" Spencer muttered

**"How do you do it?" Hanna asked.**

**"Sorry, she swore me to secrecy," Ali said, turning back around. "You want to see how it works?"**

**Aria frowned, taking a seat on a lavender floor pillow. "I don't know…"**

**"Why not?" Ali's eyes flickered to a stuffed pig puppet that was peeking out of Aria's purple sweater-knit tote bag.**

"Pigtunia!" Aria smiled

"What?" Ezra chuckled

"You'll see" Aria responded

**Aria was always carrying around weird things- stuffed animals, random pages torn out of old novels, postcards of places she never visited.**

"I carried around random pages form old books too" Ezra whispered and Aria giggled quietly.

**"Doesn't hypnosis make you say stuff you don't want to say?" Aria asked.**

**"Is there something you can't tell us?" Ali responded. "And why do you still bring that pig puppet everywhere?" She pointed at it.**

**Aria shrugged and pulled the stuffed pig out of her bag. "My dad got me Pigtunia in Germany. She advises me in my love life" She stuck her hand into the puppet.**

"Did you talk to her about me?" Ezra asked softly so no one could hear

"No, I couldn't tell anyone, remember?" Aria smirked

**"You're shoving your hand up it's butt!" Ali squealed and Emily started to giggle. "Besides, why would you want to carry around something your dad gave you?"**

**"It's not funny!" Aria snapped, whipping her head around to face Emily.**

**Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, and the girls looked blankly at one another. This had been happening a lot lately: Someone-usually Ali- mentioned something, and someone else got upset, but everyone was too shy to ask what in the world was going on.**

**Spencer broke the silence. "Being hypnotized, um, does sound sort of sketch."**

**"You don't know anything about it," Alison said quickly "C'mon I could do it to all of you at once."**

**Spencer picked at the waistband of her skirt. Emily blew air through her teeth. Aria and Hanna exchanged a look. Ali was always coming up with stuff for them to try-last summer, it was smoking dandelion seeds to see if they'd hallucinate, and this past fall they'd gone swimming in Pecks Pond, even though a dead body was once discovered there-but the thing was, they often didn't want to do the things that Alison made them do. They all loved Ali to death, but they sometimes hated her too-for bossing them around and for the spell she 'd cast on them. Sometimes in Ali's presence, they didn't feel real, exactly. They felt like dolls, with Ali arranging their every move. Each of them wished that, just once, she had the strength to tell Ali no.**

**"Puh-leeeeeze?" Ali asked "Emily, you want to do it, right?"**

**"Um…" Emily's voice quivered "Well…"**

**"I'll do it," Hanna butted in**

"What'd you agree to it so fast?" Caleb asked

"I was showing her that I could be cool, not that she noticed"

**"Me too" Emily said quickly after.**

**Spencer and Aria reluctantly nodded. Satisfied, Alison shut off all the lights with a snap and lit several sweetly vanilla votive candles that were on the coffee table. Then she stood back and hummed.**

**"Okay, everyone, just relax," she chanted, and the girls arranged themselves in a circle on the rug. "Your heartbeat's slowing down. Think calm thoughts. I'm going to count down from one hundred, and as soon as I touch all of you, you'll be in my power.**

**"Spooky" Emily laughed shakily**

**Alison began. "One hundred… ninety-nine… ninety-eight…"**

**Twenty-two…**

**Eleven…**

**Five…**

**Four…**

**Three…**

**She touched Aria's forehead with the fleshiest part of her thumb. Spencer uncrossed her legs. Aria twitched her left foot. **

**"Two…" She slowly touched Hanna, then Emily, and then moved toward Spencer "One.."**

"Spencer's not gonna let her do it" Toby commented, knowing her. "No way in hell!"

"Very funny" Spencer scoffed and then started to read again.

**Spencer's eyes sprang open before Alison could reach her. She jumped up and ran to the window.**

**"What are you doing?" Ali whispered "You're ruining the moment." **

**"It's too dark in here." Spencer reached up and opened the curtains.**

**"No." Alison lowered her shoulders "It's got to be dark. That's how it works."**

**"C'mon, no it doesn't" The blind stuck; Spencer grunted to wrench it free.**

**"No, it does." **

**Spencer put her hands on her hips. "I want it lighter. Maybe everyone does"**

**Alison looked at the others. They all still had their eyes closed.**

"Were you guys hypnotized?" Spencer asked

"I don't know. I heard voice, but it just felt like I was asleep" Emily

"Same with me" Hanna said

"That's how I felt too"

**Spencer wouldn't give in. "It doesn't always have to be the way you want it, you know, Ali?" **

**Alison barked out a laugh. "Close them"**

**Spencer rolled her eyes "God, take a pill**

**"You think I should take a pill?" Alison demanded**

**Spencer and Alison stared at each other for a few moments. It was one of those ridiculous fights that could have been about who saw the new Lacoste polo dress at Neiman Marcus first or whether honey-colored highlights looked too brassy, but it was really about something else entirely. Something way bigger.**

**Finally, Spencer pointed at the door "Leave"**

By now, Spencer was stuttering. If she hadn't made Alison leave, maybe Ali would have lived, or at least lived longer. Toby wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"It's all my fault" Spencer said as tears fell from her eyes. She laid her head on Toby's shoulder

"Spence, no it's not" Aria said "If someone hated Ali so much, they would have eventually killed her"

"But I made it easier for that someone" Spencer cried

"Spencer, it's not your fault" Emily said

"Honestly, if any of us were conscious, we would have probably told her to leave too" Hanna said

"Do you want someone else to read?" Aria asked

"No," Spencer sniffed "I'm good"

**"Fine." Alison strode outside.**

**"Good!" But after a few seconds passed, Spencer followed her. The bluish evening air was still, and there weren't any lights on in her family's main house. It was quiet too-even the crickets were quiet- and Spencer could hear herself breathing. "Wait a second!" she cried after a moment, slamming the door behind her. "Alison!"**

**But Alison was gone.**

**When she heard the door slam, Aria opened her eyes. "Ali?" she called. "Guys?" No answer.**

**She looked around, Hanna and Emily sat like lumps on the carpet, and the door was open. Aria moved out to the porch. No one was there. She tiptoed to the edge of Ali's property. The woods spread out in front of her and everything was silent.**

**"Ali?" she whispered. Nothing. "Spencer?"**

"I thought it was all just prank and you guys would pop out and scare the crap out of me." Aria said

"I wish it had been a prank…" Spencer trailed off

**Inside, Hanna and Emily rubbed their eyes. "I just had the weirdest dream," Emily said "I mean, I guess it was a dream. It was really quick. Alison fell down this really deep ell, and there were all these giant plants."**

**"That was my dream too!" Hanna said.**

**"It was?" **

**Hanna nodded. "Well, kind of. There was a big plant in it. And I think I saw Alison too. It might've been her shadow-but it was definitely her." **

**"Whoa," Emily whispered. They stared at each other, their eyes wide.**

**"Guys?" Aria stepped back through the door. She looked very pale.**

**"Are you okay?" Emily asked.**

**"Where's Alison?" Aria creased her forehead "And Spencer?"**

**"We don't know" Hanna said.**

**Just then, Spencer burst back into the house. All the girls jumped. "What?" she asked.**

**"Where's Ali?" Hanna asked quietly**

**"I don't know," Spencer whispered "I thought…I don't know." **

**The girls fell silent. All they could hear were the tree branches sliding across the windows, It sounded like someone scraping her long fingernails against a plate.**

**"I think I want to go home," Emily said**

**The next morning, they still hadn't heard from Alison. The girls called one another to talk, a four-way call this time instead of five.**

**"Do you think she's mad at us?" Hanna asked "She seemed weird all night"**

**"She's probably at Katy's," Spencer said. Katy was one of Ali's field hockey friends**

**"Or maybe she's with Tiffany-that girls from camp" Aria offered.**

**"I'm sure she's somewhere having fun," Emily said quietly**

**One by one, they got calls from Mrs. DiLaurentis, asking if they'd heard from Ali. At first, the girls all covered for her. It was the unwritten rule: They'd covered for Emily when she snuck in after her 11 p.m. curfew; they'd fudged the truth for Spencer when she borrowed Melissa's Ralph Lauren duffel coat and then accidently left it on a seat of a SEPTA train; and so on. But as each one hung up with Mrs. DiLaurentis, a sour feeling swelled in their stomachs. Something felt horribly wrong.**

**That afternoon, Mrs. DiLaurentis called again, this time in a panic. By the evening, the DiLaurentises had called the police, and the next morning there were cop cars and news vans camped out on the DiLaurentises' normally pristine lawn. It was a local news channel's wet dream: a pretty rich girl, lost in one of the safest upper-class towns in the country.**

**Hanna called Emily after watching the first nightly Ali news report. "Did you see the police news report today?"**

**"Yeah," Emily whispered**

**"Me too. You didn't tell them about…" She paused. "About The Jenna Thing, did you?"**

"What Jenna Thing?" Caleb asked, Paige looked curious as well. Caleb had always wondered what was up with the four girls and Jenna Cavanaugh. But Hanna seem to hate it when it was talked about, so he let it go.

Toby and Ezra looked at the four friends. Ezra of course had been told about it, and Toby had been there to witness it.

Hanna stiffened as Caleb looked at her. "Um…"

"Let's see if it comes up in the book, and if it doesn't, we'll tell you" Emily said and Hanna shot her a look of thanks.

**"No!" Emily gasped "Why? Do you think they know something?"**

**"No… they couldn't" Hanna whispered after a second. "We're the only ones who know. The four of us…and Alison.**

**The police questioned the girls-along with practically everybody from Rosewood, from Ali's second-grade gymnastics instructor to the guy who'd once sold her Marlboros at Wawa. It was the summer before eighth grade and the girls were supposed to be flirting with older boys at pool parties, eating corn on the cob in one another's backyard, and shopping all day at the King James Mall. Instead they were crying alone in their canopied beds or staring blankly at their photo covered walls. Spencer went on a room-cleaning binge, reviewing what her fight with Ali had really been about, and thinking of things she knew about Ali that none of the others did. Hanna spent hours on her bedroom floor, hiding empty Cheeto bags under her mattress. Emily couldn't stop obsessing over a letter she'd sent to Ali before she disappeared. Had Ali gotten it?**

**"Em, was that the letter…?" Aria trailed off and Emily nodded while tears flooded her eyes. Paige noticed this and grabbed her hand in comfort.**

**Aria sat at her desk with Pigtunia. Slowly, the girls began calling one another less frequently. The same thoughts haunted the four of them, but there wasn't anything left to say to one another.**

**"I actually had a lot to say, but I just was afraid to say it" Spencer said**

**"Me too" The other girls chorused**

**The summer turned into the school year, which turned into the next summer. Still no Ali. The police continued to search-but quietly. The media lost interest, heading off to obsess over a Center City triple homicide. Even the DiLaurentises moved out of Rosewood almost two and a half years after Alison disappeared. As for Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna, something shifted in them too. Now if they passed, Ali's old street and glanced at her house, they didn't go into insta-cry mode. Instead, they started to feel something else.**

**Relief.**

**Sure Alison was Alison. She was the shoulder to cry on, the only one you'd ever want calling up your crush to find out how he felt up about you, and the final word on whether your new jeans made your butt look big. But the girls were also afraid of her. Ali knew more about them than anyone else did, including the bad stuff they wanted to bury-just like a body. It was horrible to think Ali might be dead, but… if she was, at least their secrets were safe.**

**"'Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead'" Aria whispered. Everyone looked at her. "Quote form Ben Franklin"**

**And they were, for three years at least.**

"That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" Spencer asked

"Let's just go in a circle" Aria suggested. Everyone agreed and Spencer passed the book to Paige.

**(That's a lot of typing! Haha! Hope you liked it! For this story I have an excuse for not putting up chapter right away, each chapter is gonna be at least 2,000-3,000 words. So bare with me now! I had this done last night, but it wouldnt let me upload anything sorry for the wait guys :)) **


	5. Oranges, Peaches, and Limes, Oh My!

Pretty Little Liars Read the Book!

_**(Hey, this is a new story about how the Pretty Little Liars read the series of books based on them! I don't own this book or characters at all! CONTAINS SPOILERS! I'm changing some things. In the books Emily has a sister, and Hanna has brown hair, but I'm making them think the author just added it in.)**_

"Chapter 1, Oranges, Peaches, and Limes, Oh my!" Paige read and everyone chuckled at the strange title

**"Someone finally bought the DiLaurentises' old house," Emily's Fields's mother said. It was Saturday afternoon, and Mrs. Fields sat at the kitchen table, bifocals perched on her nose, calmly doing her bills.**

**Emily felt the Vanilla Coke she was drinking fizz up her nose**

**"I think another girl your age moved in," Mrs. Fields continued. "I was going to drop off that basket today. Maybe you want to do instead?" She pointed to the cellophane monstrosity on the counter.**

**"God, Mom, no," Emily replied. Since she'd retired from teaching elementary school last year, Emily's mom had become the unofficial Rosewood Welcome Wagon lady. She assembled million random things- dried fruit, those flat rubber thingies you use to get jars open, ceramic chickens (Emily's mom was chicken-obsessed), a guide to Rosewood Inns, whatever- into a big wicker welcome basket. She was a prototypical suburban mom, minus the SUV. She thought they were ostentatious and gas-guzzling, so she drove an oh-so-practical Volvo wagon instead.**

**Mrs. Fields stood and ran her fingers through Emily's chlorine-damaged hair. **

"My hair isn't chlorine damaged!" Emily exclaimed

Everyone laughed slightly as Emily petted her hair with a pout.

**"Would it upset you too much to go there, sweetie? Maybe I should send Carolyn?" **

"Who's Carolyn?" Emily asked

"Oh it says in the next part" Paige said after she read ahead

**Emily glanced at her sister, Carolyn, who was a year older and lounging comfortably on the La-Z-Boy in the den watching Dr. Phil. Emily shook her head. "No, it's fine, I'll do it"**

**Sure, Emily whined sometimes and occasionally rolled her eyes. But the truth was, if her mom asked, Emily would do whatever she was supposed to do. She was nearly a straight-A, four-time state champion butterflyer and hyper-obedient daughter. Following rules and requests came easy to her.**

**Plus, deep down she kind of wanted a reason to see Alison's house again. While it seemed the rest of Rosewood had started to move on from Ali's disappearance three years, two months, and twelve days ago, Emily hadn't. Even now, she couldn't glance at her seventh grade yearbook without wanting to curl up in a ball. Sometimes on rainy days, Emily sill reread Ali's old notes, which she stored in a shell-top Adidas shoe box under her bed. She even kept a pair of Citizens corduroys Alison had let her borrow on a wooden hanger in her closet, even though they were now way too small on her. She'd spent the last few lonely years in Rosewood longing for another friend like Ali, but that probably wasn't going to happen. She hadn't been a perfect friend, but for all her flaws, Ali was pretty tough to replace.**

**Emily straightened up and grabbed the Volvo's keys from the hook next to the phone. "I'll be back in a little while," she called as she closed the front door behind her.**

**The first thing she saw when she pulled up to Alison's old Victorian house at the top of the leafy street was a huge pile of trash on the curb and a big signed marked, Free! Squinting, she realized that some of it was Alison's old stuff- she recognized Ali's old, overstuffed white corduroy bedroom chair. The DiLaurentises had moved away almost nine months ago. Apparently they'd left some things behind.**

"Well, you want the pain of seeing your missing daughter's things everyday" Spencer said

**She parked behind a giant Bekins moving van and got out of the Volvo. "Whoa," she whispered, trying to keep her bottom lip from trembling. Under the chair, there were several piles of grimy books. Emily reached down and looked at the spines. The Red Badge of Courage. The Prince and the Pauper. She remembered reading them in Mr. Peirce's seventh grade English Class, talking about symbolism, metaphors, and denouement. There were more books underneath, including some that just looked like old notebooks. Boxes sat next to the books; they were marked Alison's Clothes and Alison's Old Papers. Peeking out of a crate was a blue and red ribbon. Emily pulled at it a little. It was a sixth-grade swimming medal she'd left at Alison's house one day when they'd made up a game called Olympian Sex Goddesses.**

**"You want that?" **

**Emily shot up. She faced a tall, skinny girl with tawny colored skin and wild, black-brown curly hair. The girl wore a yellow tank top whose strap had fallen off her shoulder to reveal an orange and green bra strap. Emily wasn't certain, but she thought she had the same bra at home. It was from Victoria's Secret had little orange, peaches, and limes all over the, er, boob part.**

**"Guess that's where the chapter title came from" Emily said**

**The swimming medal slid out of her hand and clattered to the ground. "Um, no," she said, scrambling to pick it up.**

**"You can have any of it. See the sign?"**

**"No, really, it's okay."**

**The girl stuck out her hand. "Maya St. Germain. Just moved here"**

**"I…" Emily's words clogged up in her throat "I'm Emily," she finally managed, taking Maya's hand and shaking it. It felt really formal to shake a girl's hand- Emily wasn't sure she'd ever done it before. She felt a little fuzzy. Maybe she hadn't eaten enough Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast?**

**Maya gestured to the stuff on the ground. "Can you believe all this crap was in my new room? I had to move it all out myself. It sucked."**

**"Yeah, this stuff belonged to Alison," Emily practically whispered**

**Maya stooped down to inspect some of the paperbacks. She shoved her tank top strap back onto her shoulder. "Is she a friend of yours?"**

**Emily paused. Is? Maybe Maya hadn't heard about Ali's disappearance? "Um, she was. A long time ago. Along with a bunch of other girls who live around here," Emily explained, leaving out the part about the kidnapping or murder or whatever might have happened that she couldn't bear to imagine. "In seventh grade. I'm going into eleventh now at Rosewood Day." School started after this weekend. So did fall swim practice, which meant three hours of lap swimming daily. Emily didn't even want to think about it/**

**"I'm going to Rosewood too!" Maya grinned. She sank down on Alison's old corduroy chair, and the springs squeaked. "All my parents talked about on the flight over was how lucky I am to have gotten into Rosewood and how different it will be from my school in California. Like, I bet you guys don't have Mexican food, right? Or like really good Mexican food, like Cali-Mexican food. We used to have it in our cafeteria and mmm, it was so good. I'm going to have to get used to Taco Bell. Their gorditas make me want to vomit." **

**"Oh." Emily smiled. This girl sure talked a lot. "Yeah, the food kind of sucks"**

**Maya sprang up from the chair. "This might be a weird question since I just met you, but would you mind helping me carry the rest of these boxes up to my room?" She motioned to a few Crate & Barrel boxes sitting at the base of the trunk.**

**Emily's eyes widened. Go into Alison's old room? But it would totally be rude if she refused, wouldn't it? "Um, sure," she said shakily.**

**The foyer still smelled like Dove soap and potpourri-just as it had when the DiLaurentises lived here. Emily paused at the door and waited for Maya to give her instructions, even though she knew she could find Ali's old room at the end of the upstairs hall blindfolded. Moving boxes were everywhere, and two spindly Italian greyhounds yapped from behind a gate in the kitchen.**

**"Ignore them" Maya said climbing the stairs to her room, shoving the door open with her terry colored hip.**

**Wow it looks the same, Emily thought as she entered the bedroom. But the thing was, it didn't: Maya had put her queen size bed in a different corner, she had a huge flat screen computer monitor on her desk, and she'd put up posters everywhere, covering Alison's old flowered wallpaper. But something felt the same, as if Alison's presence was still floating here. Emily felt woozy and leaned against the wall for the support. **

**"Put it anywhere," Maya said. Emily rallied herself to stand, set her box down at the foot of the bed, looking around.**

**"I like your posters," she said. They were mostly of bands: M.I.A., Black Eyes Peas, Gwen Stefani in a cheerleading uniform "I love Gwen." She added**

**"Yeah," Maya said. "My boyfriend's totally obsessed with her. His name's Justin. He's from San Fran, where I'm from"**

**"Oh. I've got a boyfriend too," Emily said. "His name's Ben"**

**Emily shuddered at the mention of Ben's name. She hasn't talked to him since what and happened in the locker room.**

**"Yeah?" Maya sat down on her bed "What's he like?"**

**Emily tried to conjure up Ben, her boyfriend of four months. She'd seen him two days ago- they'd watched the Doom DVD at her house. Emily's mom was in the other room, of course, randomly popping in, asking if they needed anything. They'd been good friends for a while, on the same year-round swim teams. All their teammates told them they should go out, so they did.**

**"You went out with him, because someone told you to?" Hanna asked, slightly amused**

**"Yeah" Emily looked down and fumbled with her hands**

**"He's cool" **

**"So why aren't you friends with the girl who lived here anymore?" Maya asked.**

**Emily pushed her reddish-blond hair behind her ears.**

"Does this look reddish blond?" Emily asked tugging at a strand of her hair

Everyone laughed a little and then Paige continued

**Wow. Maya really didn't know about Alison. If Emily started talking about Ali, though, she might start crying-which would be weird. She hardly knew this Maya girl. "I grew apart from all my old seventh-grade friends. Everyone changed a lot, I guess"**

**That was an understatement. Of Emily's other best friends, Spencer had become a more exaggerated version of her already hyper-perfect self; Aria's family had suddenly moved to Iceland the fall after Ali went missing; and dorky-but-lovable Hanna had become undorky and unlovable and was now a total bitch.**

"I was not a total bitch!" Hanna argued

"Um…" Emily started

"You were kind of bitchy since you were so popular" Spencer said

"Well-" Hanna had nothing to say for once in her life

"Han, you're certainly not a bitch now" Aria said

"I know, but it still hurts"

**Hanna and now best friend, Mona Vanderwaal, had completely transformed themselves the summer between eighth and ninth grade. Emily's mom had recently seen Hanna going into Wawa, the local convenience store, and told Emily that**

Paige stopped and looked at Emily "What?" Emily asked

"Well, I don't know if I should read the next part"

"Just read it, how bad could it be?" Emily wondered. Paige shrugged, still unsure but still read it.

**Hanna looked "sluttier than that Paris Hilton girl."**

"Apparently that bad" Emily said softly

"Was I really slutty?" Hanna asked quietly

"Hanna, I'm sure the book was just exaggerating" Spencer said

"But was I slutty?"

"No" Aria replied "I didn't think you were. Sure you were more glamorous, but not slutty"

No one else said a word and Paige took that as a sign to start reading

**Emily had never heard her mom use the word slutty.**

**"I know how growing apart is," Maya said, bouncing up and down on her bed as she sat. "Like my boyfriend? He's so scared I'm going to ditch him now tat we're in different coasts. He's such a big baby"**

**"My boyfriend and I are on the swim team, so we see each other all the time," Emily replied, looking for a place to sit down too. Maybe too much of the time, she thought**

**"You swim?" Maya asked. She looked Emily up and down, which made Emily feel a little weird. "I bet you're really good. You totally have the shoulders"**

**"Oh, I don't know." Emily blushed and leaned against Maya's white wooden desk.**

**"You do!" Maya smiled "But… if you're a big jock, does that mean that you'll kill me if I smoked a little weed?"**

"You said Maya wasn't like that though" Aria said

"I-I lied"

**"What, right now?" Emily's eyes widened. "What about your parents?"**

**"They're at the grocery store. And my brother-he's here somewhere, but he won't care," Maya reached under her mattress for an Altoids tin. She hefted up the window, which was right next to her bed, pulled out a joint and lit it. The smoke curled into the yard and made a hazy cloud around a large oak tree.**

**Maya brought the joint back in. "Want a hit?"**

"Em, maybe it's best Maya got help…." Aria trailed off

"Yeah, you're right, but I wish it wasn't my mom's fault.

**Emily had never tried pot in her entire life-she always thought her parents would somehow know, like by smelling her hair or forcing her to pee in a cup or something.**

"Classy" Hanna commented

**But as Maya pulled the joint gracefully from her cherry-frosted lips, it looked sexy. Emily wanted to look sexy like that too.**

**"Um, okay." Emily slid closer to Maya and took the joint from her. Their hands brushed and their eyes met. Maya's were green and a little yellow, like a cat's. Emily's hand trembled. She felt nervous, but she put the joint to her mouth and took a tiny drag, like she was sipping Vanilla Coke through a straw.**

**But it didn't taste like Vanilla Coke. It felt like she'd just inhaled a whole jar of rotten spices. She hacked an old man-ish cough.**

"Oh yeah, that's sexy" Hanna said and everyone laughed

**"Whoa," Maya said, taking back the joint. "First time?"**

**Emily couldn't breathe and just shook her head, gasping. She wheezed some more, trying to get air into her chest. Finally she could feel air hitting her lungs again. As Maya turned her arm, Emily saw a long, white scar running lengthwise down her wrist. Whoa. It looked a little like an albino snake on her tan skin. God, she was probably high already.**

**Suddenly there was a loud clank. Emily jumped. Then she heard the clank again. "What is that?" she wheezed.**

**Maya took another drag and shook her head "The workers. We're here for one day and my parents already started on renovations." She grinned. "You just totally freaked, like ypu thought the cops were coming. You been busted before?"**

**"No!" Emily burst out laughing; it was such a ridiculous thought. **

**Maya smiled and exhaled.**

**Emily shuffled off the bed. "I told my mom I'd only stop over for a minute. But I'll see you in school Tuesday."**

**"Cool," Maya said. "Maybe you could show me around?"**

**Emily smiled "Sure."**

**Maya grinned and waved good-bye with three fingers. "You know how to find your way out?"**

**"I think so." Emily took one more look around Ali's-er, Maya's-room, and then stomped down the all-too-familiar stairs.**

**It wasn't until Emily shook her head out in the open air, passed all Alison's old stuff on the curb and climbed back into her parents' car, that she saw the Welcome Wagon basket on the backseat. Screw it she thought. Wedged the basket between Alison's old chair and her boxes of books. Who needs a guide to Rosewood's inns, anyway? Maya already lives here.**

**And Emily was suddenly glad she did.**

"That's the end of the chapter" Paige said and handing the book off to Emily.


End file.
